Those Who Protect A Fractured One
by Tempest's Rain
Summary: The first time the Exvengers walked into the refurbished compound after three-and-a-half years of sitting in Wakanda they are met with some of the more... vindictive people on Tony's roster. Or, I just wanted to experiment with Rhodey, Doc Strange, Matt, Foggy, Jessica and FRIDAY working together to confront/warn the Exvengers.


The first evening that the Exvengers walked into the refurbished compound after three-and-a-half years of sitting in Wakanda, they were met with some of the more... _vindictive_ people on Tony's roster. This had been carefully arranged with help from FRIDAY and Pepper Potts, who had ensured that Tony would be caught up in SI and Accords meetings all day, and then would attend a gala in the the evening. FRIDAY also neglected to inform her boss that the Rogues' schedule had changed so that they would be arriving early, while Pepper spent her day keeping him occupied. As such, Tony was not present for, or aware of, 'Operation: Make Cap Crap A Ton', as it was so aptly named by Spider-Man when he and Deadpool had tried to be involved.

Vision was given the task of keeping the two of them away from the compound, with Bruce and Natasha providing backup, while the operation was carried out because no one wanted to be blamed for teaching Peter bad habits or have to dispose of bodies if Wade was got his way. Eventually, Peter promised to keep out of the operation, but only if FRIDAY swore to address Rogers as 'Crap-a-ton', to which she readily agreed. To be honest, they probably still would've been a part of the story but the author had made a deal with Deadpool; promising to write another fic involving him, Logan and some other characters having a confrontation with the Exvengers, some other time.

Anyway...

~0~0~0~0~0~

James looked around as he stepped into the compound after Steve. The others all seemed to relax when they entered the closest thing to a home they had experienced in a long while. Wakanda was gorgeous and T'Challa was good on his word to provide sanctuary, but they could all feel the underlying tension whenever one of the Wakandans had approached them. The way Princess Shuri had spent a significant amount of time either staring or glaring at them had been another clue that they weren't exactly as welcome as they'd hoped.

He didn't really know how he himself felt about living in the home of the Avengers, particularly since it was funded by a man who they had all betrayed at some point or another during the 'Civil War'. James supposed that some of the others were thinking similar thoughts, considering the strange, guilty expressions on both Clint and Scott's faces. They had both been a lot more withdrawn from the group recently and he suspected that they hadn't really thought through their stances during the conflict when they'd been choosing sides. James was brought out of his musings when he heard Steve addressing someone.

"Friday? Are Tony and Natasha around? I think we'd all like to speak to them- it's been a while since we last saw them." James looked around to see who he was addressing and startled when an Irish lady's voice rang out from the... ceiling?

"Sorry, Crap-a-ton, but I'm afraid that there was a miscommunication as to the time of your arrival, so Boss is currently in a board meeting and Agent Romanov is running a mission for the Avengers." After recovering from his surprise, James not only noticed the obvious hostility the woman who was speaking held towards Rog- Steve, but also the more subtle note of amusement her voice held when she said the word 'mission'. He wouldn't be surprised to find out that "Friday" had carefully planned this meeting so she could deliver some kind of shovel-talk to the team, which, James supposed, was fair enough.

Steve, however, didn't seem to see it like that, and was obviously taken aback by being addressed as "Crap-a-ton" (James actually thought it was pretty funny). He opened his mouth to verbally confront the woman, who must have been speaking through a PA system of some kind, when Lang- Scott- spoke up.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Everyone looked to the engineer whose wide-eyed shock was almost comical. "This is Friday? As in Stark's AI? That Friday!?"

Clint, whose surprise at Scott's reaction looked to have brought him out of his withdrawn mood, answered in a confused voice. "Um? Yes, Scott. I thought we'd mentioned that she runs the compound?"

James was a bit confused here, but luckily Scott, who was still shocked, looked like he was going to say more. James was always adept at picking up various situations just by listening to fragments of conversation, so he was confident he could piece together what was going on based on whatever Scott said next.

"No- Nuh uh. Nope. No. Really? No way. Although... No! No, no-no. Not possible. But if anyone could... No, still no. No really, seriously. Just no."

...Or maybe not.

"Scott, buddy?" Sam broke through Scott's ramble/meltdown. "Um. What?"

Scott took a deep breath. "There is no way that she's an artificial intelligence." At the questioning looks he received he elaborated. "An artificial intelligence is just that- _artificial_. And I don't care how good a programmer you are, you cannot input real emotion into a computer. You can't program sentience."

James was sort of getting what Scott was saying, but he still wasn't sure what his point was- wait... _oh_.

"That's mostly correct, Bug-Boy." The voice from the ceiling began speaking again. "I'm a self-learning AI, _raised_ by Boss- with input from Boss-Lady. Programming sentience isn't possible, but creating the capacity for it is. What I am, is who I've grown to be in the few years since my creation- my _birth._ "

James noted that he wasn't the only one who was unsure about this development and he heard a stunned Scott murmur "birth" in awe. He also caught the phrase "Oh God, she's an _actual person_ ", before Steve decided to take back control of the situation by addressing Friday (no, FRIDAY, James corrected himself) again.

"Ok then. FRIDAY, could you at least let me know when Tony and Nat get back?"

"I will let them know you asked for them, and if they wish to see you, then that is their decision."

Seeming to realise that this was the best outcome they were going to get from FRIDAY, Sam place a hand on Steve's shoulder before he could reply. "Thanks FRIDAY-"

"Your welcome, Feathers."

Deigning to ignore the nickname, Sam continued. "Steve, let's just go to the common room for now, and we can discuss what's going to happen next."

Steve released a breath before nodding and the group moved on with Clint retreating back into his introspective shell, Scott still looking dazed about his new discovery and Wanda keeping quiet and unsure. James, however, was pondering why it felt like they were being smirked at by the compound itself.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Jessica was sitting on a couch in the Avenger's compound common room, on the right of Foggy Nelson- Matt's old lawyer-business partner and best friend- facing the space where Roger's rogue team of douches would enter. The common room they were situated in was dimly lit- to surprise the Rogues, as Jess suspected FRIDAY's idea was, causing her to smirk- and the moment FRIDAY had announced that the Exvengers had entered the building the quiet conversation that the room's occupants had previously engaged in died down and a dark, sombre mood had taken over.

Jim Rhodes- Rhodey, that's what Tony calls me- was leaning against the counter to Jess' right where Strange was sitting on a stool and both were wearing pretty intense facial expressions. Rhodey looked furious, like he was fantasising about a brutal murder he would like to commit, while Stephen was more calculating, as if planning how he would cover it up. An alarming- yet brilliant- combination, considering they were about to confront the people who had hurt their mutual friend. Well, Jess wasn't one to discourage what would surely be a magnificent display of teamwork, seeing as she was also friends with Roger's victim.

...Well, how about that. Jessica definitely wouldn't ever _admit_ to being Tony's friend- shut up Matt, you stupid human lie-detector- but she couldn't say, even to herself, that she didn't lik- _appreciate_ \- having him around. And the fact that the people she was planning threatening in a few seconds, for being giant douches, had also personally given Tony nightmares- literally in the case of the Scarlet Bitch (what? Jess _hated_ mental manipulation- for obvious reasons)- ... well that was just a lucky bonus.

...Yeah. She couldn't even convince _herself_ with those rationalisations.

Anyway, Matt was standing with his arms crossed and wearing his original 'Devil of Hell's Kitchen' outfit, on the opposite side of the room from Stephen and Rhodey, and to the left of Foggy and Jessica. From what she could see of his posture and face, Jessica could tell he was in one of his darker mindsets, which did not bode well for the Rogues and- wait. Hang on... Oh... Oh shit.

Jess had kind of been counting on Matt acting as a stabiliser for the group- to make sure that an actual fight wasn't started- but he looked like he was about to dangle one of them off a rooftop. A quick glance around the room showed that everyone seemed to be stewing in the same pot of heavy anger. Hell, even Foggy looked strongly disinclined to show any sort of mercy, and Jessica _knew_ that he could be downright _vicious_ when he wanted.

 _Never underestimate Franklin "Foggy" Nelson_ was a staple rule that Jess had made sure to keep in mind throughout her dealings with the lawyer. He was a great guy actually, but he could- and would- _obliterate_ anyone- and everyone- in an argument if he was passionate enough about it. And if there was one thing Foggy was passionate about, it was his friends (which was great for her, seeing as she was one of them along with the other Defenders and some others from the enhanced community... Including Tony).

While that was pretty awesome, it still left a rather large, crucial flaw in their plan. And that was that none of them were planning on being the responsible one of the group who would stop things from going too far.

That... was likely going to become a problem. Damn.

Someone was going to have to step up, take one for the team, and fill the role of 'responsible adult'.

...

But it sure as hell wasn't going to be Jess.

 _Eh_ , they could handle the fallout later... probably.

Right now, though, they had a friend to avenge and Avengers to scare. (Jessica wasn't actually sure if that line sounded cool or lame, but since she wasn't going to say it out loud and there were no telepaths around (Chuck, if I think you've gone into my head, I swear I'll think about '50 Shades of Grey' on loop. Just _try_ me), she figured it didn't matter.)

~0~0~0~0~0~

Dr Stephen Strange watched as 'Team Cap' from the media-dubbed 'Civil War' entered the darkened common room. He wasn't entirely sure how his life had come to the point where he was _lurking_ in the darkness with four other individuals, waiting to get the jump on a group of recently pardoned criminals. _Oh wait_ , yes, he was: Tony Stark.

Stephen honestly hadn't been sure what to make of the man when they'd first met, but he had been someone that he just couldn't seem to help but engage with. They had formed a snarky, yet respecting, sort of relationship almost instantaneously- much to the woe of Christine and Pepper, come to think of it. Even so, it had taken five months of fascinating discussions about their scientific fields (magic is _totally_ a science, thank you very much), clever and entertaining banter (what do you _mean_ , 'hey, did you realise that Wade, Rocket and Luke were assigning points whenever we insult each other'?!), coincidental (yes, Christine, we met by complete chance today- no matter what Wong said. He's _obviously_ delusional if he thinks I'm _intentionally_ seeking Tony out. Yes, we are on a first name basis now, but that doesn't prove anything!) meetings, and even saving each other's lives a few times, before Stephen realised that they had become friends. He was quite surprised by the revelation, but found that he didn't really mind having another actual friend in his life.

...Actually, no, he did mind, seeing as he had only come to the realisation that they were friends when he had caught himself frantically pacing, wrought with worry, while waiting for Dr Wu to appear and tell him if Tony had survived an emergency surgery or not. He had pushed Stephen out of the way of an energy blast and taken the hit himself, which would normally have been fine if his armour hadn't already been damaged. As it was, Tony had been thrust into an old, unstable, brick building which had subsequently collapsed on him and partially crushed his armour while it was so weakened. Stephen was honestly mad at Tony for saving his life and then almost dying on him like that (you made me pace with actual _worry_ , you jackass!).

Anyway, they had grown closer after _that_ particular incident and he was both outwardly exasperated and secretly pleased when Tony had dubbed them "Awesome Facial Hair Bros" (Stephen just had to make sure that Wong _never_ found out about that. _Ever)_. Cloak had also been quite taken by the man when they had interacted for the first time. To be honest, ne and Stephen were equally taken aback when Tony, upon discovering Cloak's sentience, just blinked once in surprise before apologising and introducing himself.

Tony had also introduced him to many of his other friends in the enhanced community, such as the Defenders (who Stephen often- surprisingly- ended up working rather well with and who he held a fondness for, though he'd never admit it), Professor Xavier and his X-Men (who had a refreshing desire for peace and equality and who were great for asking about pointers on teaching), the Fantastic Four (who conducted a lot of interesting research, even if they created half the problems they ended up solving due to Richards' machines), the Guardians of the Galaxy (who were a diverse group of people with questionable pasts but fascinating tales) and, of course, the New Avengers (who were full of a variety of people, had expanded across the globe and who welcomed him whenever he was around).

Stephen was infinitely surprised by how he seamlessly managed to fit into the community. Wong and Christine had both remarked on how good the change was to the Magisterium and himself, respectively. As Sorcerer Supreme, he opted to integrate the magical community into the enhanced one. Wong had been apprehensive at first, but had come around when he saw how much easier life was when everyone communicated. When he had asked Stephen how he knew it was going to work so well, the doctor had just pointed to where Cloak was playing chess with Tony on the other side of the room. Wong's eyes widened at the sight of the non-mystical, genius, billionaire locked in a close game with the extremely emotive, floating, sentient piece of clothing, before he nodded to Stephen in acceptance.

Over Stephen's last two years of friendship with Tony he had managed to glean details about the previous Avengers and had put together as much as he could about what had happened. And how they had broken and betrayed his friend. Well, Stephen had then also discovered that he could be quite protective and possessive when it came to his friends (although the possessive part wasn't really that much of a surprise). Now the people who had hurt and betrayed Tony, on top of ignoring the wishes of the people who they claimed to protect, were standing a few metres away from him.

Stephen was not planning on damming his contempt for any of them, but his main targets were definitely going to be soaked in it. Rogers: the arrogant golden-boy of the country, who, unlike Stephen and Tony, didn't really have any skills or intelligence to warrant it. Maximoff: the unstable, neo-Nazi 'witch' who had traumatised Vision (a being whose innocence was a pure thing, but who still provided Stephen with stimulating conversation). And finally, Barton: the supposedly retired agent who didn't bother to find out the reason he was fighting with half his former teammates against the other half (and the will of the masses), who had egged Wanda into assaulting Vision. The rest were of a lesser consequence, as far as Stephen knew, but were still guilty and deserved to receive the same warning- oh alright, _threat_ \- as the others.

He noticed that the four people he had come with were all unmoving in the darkness; the Col, in particular, looking rather like a statue, and he wouldn't have even seen Matt if he didn't already know he was there. The freshly reinstated Avengers squinted in slight confusion at the lack of lighting in the room.

"Uh, FRIDAY? Could you turn on the lights?" The dark man with sharp features- Sam Wilson- asked aloud to the room.

FRIDAY didn't answer but the lights brightened regardless, making all the people lurking in the common room visible to the newcomers. Stephen was pleased to note at least four of them flinch as they realised that the room was occupied. They were all definitely surprised, at least.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Rogers demanded as soon as he'd recovered, which Stephen could understand, considering they were sitting silently in a darkened room, with what Tony would call 'Scary Mofo Murder Faces', waiting for them to enter. Rogers was still a dick though, and Stephen wasn't inclined to make anything easier for him. Judging by the lack of answer- and the continued collective use of 'Scary Mofo Murder Face'- he suspected that the others he had come with were thinking the same thing.

"Rhodey?" Sam exclaimed in surprise as he recognised one of the silent faces in the room. "What-?"

"-Rhodes." Rhodey cut in tersely. "You can all call me Rhodes."

"...Ok, fair enough. Sorry about that." There was a long period where no one spoke in which the people who had just entered the room went from silent with shock to silent whilst awkwardly trying to think of what to say, to silent and rather uncomfortable as to how they were being glared at by a group of people with only one person they recognised (Stephen was impressed by how Matt managed to make it seem like he was glaring through the mask, despite the fact that he was blind). Everyone in the room had something they wanted to say to the Rogues, but they still preserved the tense silence, waiting for one the ex-criminals to break it. Eventually the Rogues realised this and Rogers began speaking.

"So... What is this?" He began, looking politely curious and apprehensive. "I'm guessing that you all came here for a reason, but we don't even know most of you so I'm not really sure what you all want."

"Lie." Matt's deep voice drew attention to where he was standing; still and dangerous.

"You have a pretty good idea what this is about." Foggy added with narrowed eyes and an angry tone from his place on the couch, causing Jessica to smirk. Stephen admired the amazing teamwork the two lawyers constantly displayed- they worked more fluently together than Christine and he ever did when they were nurse and doctor.

Rogers looked surprised- and a bit flustered- at the show of unspoken communication displayed by the dangerous-looking, ninja-dressed man with a mask, who was standing in the shadows, and the obviously-unfit, "pencil-pusher-type", with the long hair and the cheap suit, sitting on the couch. A glance showed that no one else had expected that either.

"Rhodey- I mean Rhodes," Rogers corrected himself upon seeing Rhodey's face darken, "could you... ah. Um, are you... what-"

"Oh, do _shut up_ , Rogers." Stephen, unable to stay silent, didn't have to put much effort into showing his contempt for the... man. "You speaking makes it a lot more difficult to refrain from screaming at you or-" he looked pointedly at Jessica, who snorted, "-punching you."

All the Rogues were looking at him now with either one or both eyebrows raised at either his words or his attire, but Stephen wasn't put off. He'd never cared about standing out and looking like an arsehole before, so he definitely wasn't going to let these cretins' opinions affect him. He only raised one of his own brows in response until Maximoff spoke for the first time.

"That is your threat? 'Shut up or we'll punch you'?" She looked as disbelieving as her words implied. "I don't think you'd want to try that with us." A red mist encircled the woman's hands for a second, before disappearing- Maximoff clearly thought that that would be enough of a deterrent. Stephen, however, already knew what would happen next, after _that_ display, and sure enough...

"O-o- _ohhh_ , honey," Jessica was very clearly unimpressed, much to Maximoff's surprise, "we haven't even _begun_ with the threats yet-" she slouched back into the couch and adopted a casual position before a dangerous tone entered her voice, "-and _trust me_ ; you do _not_ want to use any abilities even _remotely_ related to mind fuckery, near me."

Maximoff took a half pace forward and crossed her arms; already on the defensive against the small, raven-haired woman who had challenged her. "Are you _that_ scared of me?" She began an intense staring match with Jessica as she spoke. "I haven't used my powers for mind control since I joined the Avengers-" Stephen saw Matt's head whip around at that and saw as the man mouthed "lie" in slight alarm. Thankfully he seemed to be the only one who had noticed, otherwise Jessica would have gone rabid. Deciding to take up the post of the 'responsible adult' of the group by preventing an actual fight from occurring, he tried to steer the conversation towards a safer road.

"As much as I'm enjoying watching our leather-clad woman-with-attitude and yours glare at each other, I think now would be a good time to talk about why we detest you and what you can do to ensure that everyone you're going to be working with don't automatically increase their already high levels of disgust when thinking about you." ...Then again, Stephen knew that he wasn't a shining example of safe driving and, judging by the way all of the Exvengers were now glaring at him, he wasn't particularly skilled diplomat either.

"I'm down with that, Doc." Rhodey said in a low voice and nodding towards Stephen, who had just mentally resigned his position of 'responsible adult' after an unsuccessful career spanning a single sentence. "Ok, here's how this is going to go." He looked to the Rogues and began addressing them in a 'no-bullshit' voice. "You lot are pardoned. Fuck knows _why_ Tony decided to make that happen, and the only _'how'_ I can give is that the man is a literal master in politics when he wants to be."

"While Tony has accomplished this absolute feat of improbability, he has also been running and expanding the Avengers Initiative." Stephen took over. "There have been some significant changes."

"That means that you need to be introduced to how things are going to work around here now in terms of missions and rank structure." Matt continued from the side, where he was still mostly unmoving.

"Basically, there's a lot of things you're going to have to learn about and be briefed on." Foggy's tone was still cold, but had taken on a more professional quality.

"But that's not what this is about. This isn't the Avengers giving an official warning- this is Tony's friends letting you know that none of you are going to fuck with him again." Jessica finished.

Roger's team was looking fairly surprised by this turn of events, but before anyone could continue Rogers chose to speak again.

"We didn't do anything to hurt Tony!" The one-time symbol of America exclaimed in disbelief. "There was a fight between two sides with contrasting beliefs! No one even got hurt-" Stephen noticed Rhodey's raised brows and Wilson's cringe at that. "-and Tony was just as much at fault for starting that in the first place! He gave just as good as he got and while I'm sorry about how things ended, I offered him several chances to stop the conflict and I even reached out to him after."

Rogers looked as though he truly believed what he was saying and Stephen honestly couldn't tell if he was lying or not. Luckily, they had brought their very own Matt Murdock.

"Two conscious lies. The rest of it he actually believes." Matt's declaration drew everyone's attention- the Rogues' with confusion and the others' with interest.

"Matt can tell when someone is lying," Jessica explained to the Rogues with a smug smirk, causing some to pale, "and he's never wrong."

"Which were the lies?" Rhodey asked Matt with a carefully casual tone- which did little to hide his smouldering anger- and getting back to the point at hand.

"The first one- about not hurting Tony," four faces darkened and a few fists clenched, but Matt continued with an unwavering tone and an unnaturally still body, "and then Tony 'giving as good as he got'."

Everyone looked at Rogers, even his own team, waiting to see what he said to that. He floundered for a minute, causing Lang and Wilson to look wary about what they were about to hear from their leader and Barnes and Barton's faces to go blank as they already realised.

Foggy scoffed when Rogers still hadn't spoken, "Am I the only one who's getting the impression that the good Crap-a-ton here hasn't told his team everything?" Before anyone could answer, however, he continued. "But let's get back to your statement." Once he had everyone's attention, Foggy began.

"One: many people _were_ hurt by your little act of juvenile rebellion- two _dead_ and six injured police officers in Berlin; eleven dead and twenty-nine injured _civilians_ from the collapsed tunnel in Bucharest; eight injured during the escapade from police custody. Not to mention your own previous teammate." Rogers had grown pale already, but he still managed to become a few shades lighter at the last sentence. Maximoff had also grown pale and was staring resolutely at the floor, while Wilson and Lang were looking like they were going to be sick. Barton and Barnes were still blank-faced, but both looked to have grown much more distant in their minds with each word that the lawyer spoke.

"Two:" eyes darted toward Matt, who began on the second point, "Tony did not start any conflict between you- you were the ones to declare yourselves above the will of the people. 'The safest hands are our own,' is _not_ something _anyone_ in a position of power has a right to say. _Ever_. That's what makes dictators; what impedes the freedom of the people- _the freedom of choice_ ; what allows people like Hitler and Kim Jong-Un to take power. This was something that you started, but to be honest- I don't think you were even fighting about the Accords. I think this was about Barnes. Tell me I'm wrong." Matt's voice had gradually grown slower and deadlier until he was just about hissing.

Rogers didn't say anything, which was answer enough, and now his allies looked to be examining the situation and their own actions over the previous years in a new light. All was quiet under the weight of what Foggy and Matt had just said. The tense silence was broken by a low, angry- protective, _furious_ \- voice after a minute.

"And Rogers," Rhodey began, "I didn't need a human lie-detector to tell me that you had hurt him." No one needed clarification as to who 'him' was. Rogers looked scared and he avoided looking at Rhodey, while everyone else was captured in a sort of horrified calm, like they knew that they were going to hear something dreadful, but they weren't capable of reacting and knowing that they deserved to hear it anyway. "I _know_ because Vision found him, unconscious and hypothermic, in an abandoned _HYDRA_ base in the middle of _fucking Siberia_. I know because he had internal bleeding caused by being bashed _in the chest_ by the _vibranium_ shield that was lying next to him." Rhodey stood up abruptly and started stalking towards the frozen group of pardoned fugitives and was immediately flanked by Stephen and Jessica on his right and Foggy and Matt on his left. "I know because I spent thirty-nine hours at his hospital bed _begging_ him to wake up- because I had to watch Pepper cry for missed opportunities, Happy stare at the floor and pretend his hands weren't trembling because he felt responsible for some inexplicable reason, and Vision experience raw _grief_ for the first time in his life. I know because when he did wake up and go home, he was _broken_ in a way he hadn't been since he lost _JARVIS_ \- he smiled and he lied and said that he was fine but I could see that he wasn't because he's my brother and I can almost always tell when he's hurting." Rhodey's rant had grown in speed, volume and passion until he was near shouting and Stephen placed a supportive hand on his shoulder. Rhodey took a shuddering breath before he continued in a softer, but no less furious voice. "I know because he still has PTSD attacks about whatever the _fuck_ happened in Siberia. I know because I've been here with him for the last three-and-a-half-years, while you- _all of you_ \- have _haunted_ him."

Rogers, Barnes, Wilson, Maximoff, Barton and Lang just stood there numbly. Stephen knew that they had won this fight already and that the Rogues would do whatever they told them to at this point- anything to relieve the _guilt_. This had become a lot more serious and personal than Stephen had thought it was going to, and he knew that after this was over- after hearing Rhodey's speech- they were all going to have to do something mundane, like go to a pub or whatever (oh, who was he kidding? He knew it was going to involve alcohol), just as long as they were there when Rhodey finally broke down. And to be honest, Stephen knew that he wasn't going to want to be alone after this either- none of them would.

"But now, Tony has people. People like us, who'll defend him when he won't and who'll make sure that he's ok." Rhodey's voice was certain, _determined,_ not the raw, anguished thing that it had been. "He has a lot more than just us now- in fact, you'll likely be getting similar receptions from them all over the next few months- and as Tony's friends, we are telling you to leave him _the_ _hell_ alone. You will _not_ try and guilt him; you will not try to rekindle any arguments; you will not take anything from him; and you _will not_ hurt him. You _will_ sign the Accords if you choose to remain active; you will follow orders in the field; you will be held accountable for your actions; and you will make sure that Tony's efforts to bring you back _were not_ misplaced. Is this understood?"

The Rogues were still for a moment before, one-by-one, they nodded their assent. Good: there would be no denying the warning was given- not with FRIDAY able to corroborate the entire confrontation.

Rhodey gave a curt nod back before walking through where the Rogues were still standing- unable to move just yet- and out of the room. After a moment, Matt and Foggy followed silently. Jessica flipped Maximoff and Rogers off before she too left, making sure to use some of her strength as she bulldozed past Rogers, who stumbled- not expecting her to possess the strength required to knock him over. Stephen sniffed and looked down at everyone before speaking.

"I'd say good luck with the others, but you honestly don't deserve it. Besides," he strode towards the entry, but still managed to throw over his shoulder, "I made a bet in Wade's new 'Dead Pool' that Pepper and Happy would do the most damage. Johnny reckons it'll be Thor or Logan (because he's predictable like that), Rocket says it'll be him and Gamora, and Bruce, Hope and Natasha all bet on each other. Cheerio!"

~0~0~0~0~0~

Steve wasn't sure how many minutes had passed since the strange group had left him and his team in a stupefied silence. He had... He didn't... How? Why? Oh God, Tony, what did he do!? He had to move soon. Somebody had to break the silence. It was killing them. He should move and find a way to fix this. He should-

Sam started walking past the counter that Rhodey been standing at with the other man, causing the spell the others were under to break.

"Sam, where-?"

"Don't. Steve." Sam didn't falter in his step or look back as he left to go to one of the bedrooms.

The next to move was Scott, but he didn't just walk away in silence. He stood resolutely in front of Steve and looked him in the face for several seconds before speaking in a steely voice that didn't hold a trace of the respect or awe it usually did when he was addressing Steve.

"There's a lot you didn't tell us." It wasn't a question. Steve nodded anyway. Another pause... "You're going to tell us everything. Tomorrow." It wasn't a suggestion. Steve nodded anyway. Another pause... Scott walked away.

Steve looked to where Wanda's gaze was fixated on the ground, but what she saw was obviously far away from here.

"Wanda... Are you ok?"

"Yes, Steve, I just need to be alone for a while." And she left too.

"Ok."

Steve didn't even hear Bucky move from his side- he just saw the back of his familiar figure as he followed the others out of the room. Bucky didn't say anything and, this time, Steve didn't ask. He was afraid to hear what he would say.

He heard a slight rustle as Clint sat on the couch that had held the woman in the black leather jacket and the fat man in the suit. He was staring at a point on the wall with the blankest expression Steve had ever seen on the archer's face. He took a step towards him; intending on joining him but Clint's quiet- _dangerous_ \- voice made him stop.

"Get lost, Steve."

Steve knew better than to reply as he left.

He was alone.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Jim waited for everyone to appear at the compound's entrance, his emotions roiling beneath the surface. He knew he was going to break down soon, especially after that speech he had given, but he didn't regret it- how could he? Anything was worth it for Tones. He was glad that the others had been there with him, though, so before he exited the building, he had turned around to wait for them to arrive.

First was Matt, who was followed closely by Foggy. The lawyers didn't say anything as they walked up to Jim and either nodded to him or clapped his shoulder, respectively. Those two just _got it_. Jim had seen them together and he knew that they understood what Tony and he were to each other. They were brothers in a way that made no sense to someone who hadn't experienced the same bond before.

Jess sauntered out next, and Jim just _knew_ that she'd made her exit as abrasive to the Rogues as possible. That made him smile a small, but genuine, smile. She just walked up to him and punched him in the shoulder before moving to Matt and pulling off his black head-scarf. The fact that he let her said a lot about how much he trusted them.

Jim was aware that the relationship Jessica had with her adopted sister, Trish, was also of the same nature that he and Tony had. She got it too.

Lastly, Stephen appeared around the corner with a small smirk which said he'd left some memorable parting words. Jim decided to have FRIDAY show him the security footage later. As Stephen approached, his smirk transformed into a rare, honest grin that Jim knew was precious because he'd never seen it on the doctor before. It made him feel warmer to know that Stephen had shown it just to support him.

The Sorcerer Supreme's sentient cloak perked up when nir wearer approached Jim and patted his shoulder, causing everyone to snort. He was glad of nir presence, though- the cloak had a lot more personality than many of the humans he had worked with in the past. And a steadier moral compass.

Jim looked at the four people assembled before him- who had just helped him in a way that he would remember forever- but he didn't thank them because he knew that they had done it for Tony. As they met his eyes (excluding Matt), Jim knew that they all understood just how grateful he was (including Matt), so he just exhaled softly before speaking.

"How about we all go get drunk?"

And Jim laughed along with the others when they heard Stephen sigh heavily and say, "I _knew_ the aftermath of this excursion would involve alcohol."

They left the compound and each knew that they'd be alright- that _Tony_ would be alright.

They were together.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Meanwhile, roughly forty-five minutes into a SI-hosted gala and hiding from Pepper in a hidden room located behind a non-descript wall near the ballroom's dais, a man in an expensive suit stood as FRIDAY played the evening's security feed from the Avenger's compound on a monitor on the wall. As he watched it, Tony smiled.


End file.
